Edward Carter, Sr. started his funeral home in Montrose in the 1950’s and his son, Edward Jr., took his place.

While the founder and his son are both deceased, the legacy of the founding family is continuing at the Edward F. Carter Funeral Home, which has facilities in Montrose and Croton.

Some of the current staff spoke about the business last week at the Montrose location. Washingtonville resident Michel Trimble is the operations manager; Croton resident Carrie Cooper is the funeral director and Mount Kisco resident Meghan Novak is family service counselor.

Trimble said the Carter Funeral Home opened in the 1950’s in Montrose and the second location in Croton opened in the late 1960’s. Edward Carter Sr. was a railroad worker when he opened his Montrose funeral home. “He did this on the side,” Trimble noted, adding he wound up working at the funeral home full-time. Carter’s son, Edward Jr, who later was elected as a Cortlandt councilman, took over the business in the mid-1970’s and ran it until the mid-1990’s, Trimble noted.

The Montrose and Croton funeral homes are managed by Dignity Memorial. Trimble said he has worked for the funeral home since 2005.

Trimble said his career choice was carrying on a family tradition. “Both my parents were funeral directors,” he noted. “I followed in the family footsteps.”

Cooper took a different career route than Trimble. “I got into the business nine years ago. I was a fine artist,” she said.

A variety of services are provided at the Carter Funeral Homes for people of all religious faiths, Cooper said. “We deal with cremations and full burials. We also do prearranged funerals,” she said. The homes also work with families to create monuments that are placed in cemeteries she said. Memorial, traditional and non-traditional services are provided.

Novak works with families on pre-planning for the home’s services, which can take place over several years, she said. Families can pay for services via a variety of payment plan options. “They’re paying a third party, FDIC-insured trust company,” she explained. “It’s an interest-bearing trust.” Families who choose to pre-plan agree to a price for services, which never increases. “It makes you immune to inflation,” Novak said.

Cooper said one example of a non-traditional funeral service provided by Edward F. Carter was one held at Bear Mountain featuring a live band and a catered meal.

Services are also provided at chapels at Carter’s Montrose and Croton locations.

Cooper said the staff at the funeral homes is active in the community. For example, Tremble and Cooper are Our Lady of Mount Carmel Society and the Hen Hud Lion’s Club, “We try to reach out to people in our community,” Cooper said.

Tremble said the Montrose and Croton funeral homes have been so successful “because of the quality of service that we give, attention to detail that we take for every family. We treat everybody the same no matter if they have a very small, simple memorial service or if they have a traditional big funeral.”

There are two locations for Edward F. Carter Funeral Home. The Montrose location is 170 Kings Ferry Rd. For more information, call 914-737-0900 or visit efcarter.com. The Croton location is 41 Grand St. For more information, call 914-271-4882 or visit https://www.dignitymemorial.com.